English is by far the most studied foreign language in the EU

English is far and away the most studied foreign language in the European Union, with 96% of students in upper secondary general education and 80.1% of students in upper secondary vocational education learning it as a compulsory subject.

In general education, the second-most studied language across the EU is Spanish, studied by 27.1%, followed by French (20.8%) and Italian (3.2%).

In vocational education, meanwhile, German ranks second (with 18.1%), followed by French (14.1%), Spanish (6.6%) and Russian (2.3%).

Two or more foreign languages

According to the Eurostat data, for the year 2023, three fifths (60%) of students in upper secondary general education across the EU studied two or more foreign languages as compulsory subjects or as compulsory curriculum options.

This marked a 0.8-percentage-point decline on the previous year (60.8%).

In upper secondary vocational education meanwhile, the share of students studying two or more foreign languages stood at 34.8%, a one-percentage-point increase on the previous year (34.8%).

The highest shares of students studying two or more foreign languages was seen in France (99.8%), Romania (99.1%) and Czechia (98.5%), while the lowest was recorded in Portugal (6.7%), Ireland (10.4%) and Spain (22.4%). Read more here.

Most Studied Foreign Languages by EU Students (2023)